‘We academics and lecturers from Security Studies can directly influence political security policy’
The future of the discipline of Security and Global Affairs lies in research, the role of universities in security challenges and how the security analysts of the future are taught. In his inaugural lecture Joachim Koops will call for a more integrated vision of research, teaching and academic governance.
Why do people wage war? What is the role and effect of peacekeeping? And how can regional and global organisations help solve security and defence issues? Just a handful of the issues studied in Security and Global Affairs. No surprise therefore that Joachim Koops, Professor of Security Studies, feels at home with many different topics.
He conducts research into topics such as teaching, the roles of the EU, UN and NATO and the way security is maintained at a global, regional and local level. ‘My main focus is peacekeeping, peacebuilding and protecting citizens’, he says. ‘I want to find out who and what contributes most to peacebuilding and conflict prevention.’ Other topics of his are academic diplomacy and the role of universities in global collaboration.
Research, teaching and academic governance
It is in this multitude of subjects that Koops has also noticed the underlying connection between research, teaching and academic governance. These are essential, he says, to the study of Security and Global Affairs. ‘You just can’t separate these three elements’, he says. ‘The future of the discipline obviously lies in the research but it’s also in the way we teach the security analysts of the future and the role of universities in regional and global security issues. I strongly believe that we academics and lecturers from Security Studies can have a direct impact on political security policy through our research, our students and initiatives such as Scholars at Risk, in which universities provide a safe haven for researchers who have been forced to flee.’
Work on diplomatic policy issues as a student
A specific example of this influence can be seen in Koops’ own bachelor’s course, Integrated Project Two, where students spend seven weeks working in teams on a real policy issue. The issues are submitted by government organisations, international organisations and NGOs that work in conflict areas and the same organisations assess the students’ solutions at a closing conference. ‘Every year a few students are invited to present their solutions again, only then for the rest of the organisation in question’, Koops says proudly.
Protecting citizens in increasingly complex conflict situations
During his professorship Koops will further develop his research expertise in the different instruments and approaches for protecting citizens in conflict areas, for example in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This war has had a huge impact on his discipline, says Koops. ‘The war has shown brutal violations of human rights and humanitarian law, with citizens as the victims. The deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, such as electricity grids and dams, fuels genocide and ecocide. This makes it incredibly important that we from Security and Global Affairs come up with interdisciplinary answers that centre European and global approaches to protecting citizens, from the EU, the UN and NATO, for example
Text: Sabine Waasdorp